The Nighthawk ‘Skeleton’ Unveiled

January 31, 2013

It’s been an exciting week for our TRASHformation program at Nightingale Middle School. Along with collaborating artist Robin Banks, the RuckusRoots team erected the body, or “skeleton” of our Nighthawk sculpture. We visited the lab on Wednesday to assess the trash with Robin and Jennifer Cunnigham, the D3 Lab coordinator, and made a rough sketch of how we would construct the bird and just how big it would be. Since the kids worked so hard and collected so much valuable and usable materials, everyone agreed the bigger the better!

We used recycled steel bike rims to form the torso and found scrap metal to make the outline of the wings, legs and feet. We welded it all together while adding structural stability, ensuring the sculpture is safe to display on campus.

We then delivered the frame to the D3 Lab in three pieces, setting it up so that we can begin adding to it with Nightingale students over the next few weeks.

Thanks to the Academia Avance High School senior interns who worked with Robin to weld together our Nighthawk and also transport it to the lab. We always appreciate a helping hand.

The kids were quite excited to see part of the structure come together today! We looking forward to next week when more hands will be needed and the kids’ creative ideas will finally come to life. Stay tuned!